Gavin's story

Below Gavin, a Mind member, gives us a sneak peek of his interview from our current membership magazine. To read the whole article and much more, join us today.

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On being misdiagnosed with depression…

Even in my teens there was always missing time. I’d be in one place doing one thing, then the next thing I knew I’d be in a different place doing something else. People would tell me about conversations I had no memory of. It was disorientating and very scary. I was misdiagnosed with depression for years, but had this ongoing sense of feeling disjointed and not being alone in my own head.

On discovering his other identities…

Before I was diagnosed, a couple of my other identities had conversations with my ex-girlfriend. She said ‘I’ve just spoken to someone that’s not you – someone else’s words were coming out of your mouth’. Soon after that, what happened felt almost like a balloon exploding. These different parts of me that had lain dormant and disconnected in my subconscious spilt over into my conscious mind. I became aware that there were other people living in my head.

On what it’s like to experience DID…

There are times when another part of my is in control, and I’ll watch almost like it’s on a TV screen far away, so I can only just see what’s happening. Or I’ll be on my way to meet someone and realise I’m not dressed how I usually would, because another part of me has chosen my clothes.

It can be equally terrifying and hilarious. One part of me is called James and speaks in a South African accent. And once I looked in the mirror to find that one of the other parts of me had wet shaved my head and given me a goatee beard!

On getting better…

Once you get used to being part of a collective you learn to deal with the urges you have – to do something childish, for instance, because you know it’s the different parts of you wanting airtime.

Read Gavin's full story...

Gavin shares lots more about his DID journey in the current edition of our magazine. To read it, all you need to do is sign up for membership. It costs as little as £2.17 a month and joining is easy.